the upper edge of the buttstock of a rifle or shotgun.
verb (used with object)
to arrange or adorn (the hair) with a comb.
to use (something) in the manner of a comb: She was slowly combing her fingers through her hair.
to remove (anything undesirable) with or as if with a comb: She combed the snarls out of her hair. They combed the cowards from the group.
to search everywhere in: He combed the files for the missing letter.
to separate (textile fibers) with a comb.
to scrape with or as with a comb.
to sweep across; rake: High winds combed the seacoast.
verb (used without object)
to roll over or break at the crest, as a wave.
Origin of comb
1
before 900;Middle English;Old Englishcomb, camb; cognate with Old High Germankamb (GermanKamm), Old Norsekambr,Greekgómphos “pin, peg,” gomphíos “molar tooth”; see cam1
Related formscomb·less, adjectivecomb·less·ness, nounun·combed, adjectivewell-combed, adjective
the loose hair, wool, etc, removed by combing, esp that of animals
the unwanted loose short fibres removed in combing cotton, etc
comb
noun
a toothed device of metal, plastic, wood, etc, used for disentangling or arranging hair
a tool or machine that separates, cleans, and straightens wool, cotton, etc
Australian and NZthe fixed cutter on a sheep-shearing machine
anything resembling a toothed comb in form or function
the fleshy deeply serrated outgrowth on the top of the heads of certain birds, esp the domestic fowl
anything resembling the comb of a bird
a currycomb
a honeycomb
the row of fused cilia in a ctenophore
go over with a fine-tooth comb, go over with a fine-toothed comb, go through with a fine-tooth comborgo through with a fine-toothed combto examine very thoroughly
verb
(tr)to use a comb on
(when tr, often foll by through) to search or inspect with great carethe police combed the woods
Old English camb "comb, crest, honeycomb" (later Anglian comb), from West Germanic *kambaz (cf. Old Saxon and Old High German camb, German Kamm, Middle Dutch cam, Dutch kam, Old Norse kambr), literally "toothed object," from PIE *gombhos, from root *gembh- "to bite, tooth" (cf. Greek gomphos "a molar tooth," Sanskrit gambha-s "tooth").
comb
v.
late 14c. (implied in past participle kombid), verb derived from comb (n.); replacing the former verb, Old English cemban, which however survives in unkempt. Related: Combed; combing.
